Levels of Peripheral Circulating IL-6 and IL-10 Decrease Over Time Despite High Depression Burden in PTSD Patients

• Published in: Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment
• Main Authors: Toft,Helge, Bramness,Jørgen G, Lien,Lars
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Press 2022
• Subjects: Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment; Arctic; Beck; Norway; Arctic University of Norway; UiT The Arctic University of Norway
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/levels-of-peripheral-circulating-il-6-and-il-10-decrease-over-time-des-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-NDT

Helge Toft,1,2 Jørgen G Bramness,1,3,4 Lars Lien1,2 1Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Concurrent Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Brumunddal, Norway; 2Faculty of Social and Health Sciences, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Elverum, Norway; 3Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway; 4Department of Clinical Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, NorwayCorrespondence: Helge Toft, Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Concurrent Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders, Innlandet Hospital Trust, P.O. Box 104, Brumunddal, 2381, Norway, Email [e-mail]: Patients with combined depression symptoms and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often exhibit high levels of circulating inflammatory biomarkers as either a cause or consequence of their disease. We aimed to investigate how cytokines and depression symptoms develop with one-year follow-up and compare them with non-PTSD patients.Methods: The study had a longitudinal design with one-year follow-up measurements in an inpatient treatment setting at a psychiatric center in Norway. PTSD diagnoses were set using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). The first three measurements were at baseline (T0), halfway (T1) and at discharge (T2) from a 12-week main stay, followed by a final measurement one year after discharge (T3). Serum blood samples were collected on all four occasions. The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) was administered at T0, T2 and T3.Results: Levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in PTSD patients were higher than in patients without PTSD at T0 (p = 0.005 and 0.042). The PTSD patients had a higher average level of IL-10 across all four measurements (B = 1.62, Standard Error (SE) = 0.78, p = 0.037). The IL-10 levels in PTSD patients declined from T0 to T3 (p = 0.039). The PTSD patients were more depressed than non-PTSD patients at T3 (p = 0.019).Conclusions: The levels ...